


Family for Dummies

by Veslya



Series: Family For Dummies [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Attempted Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 14:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14771600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veslya/pseuds/Veslya
Summary: Even superheroes get the sniffles.





	Family for Dummies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ceruleansmile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceruleansmile/gifts).



> This is what happens if I am asked to write something nice and possibly fluffy with Tony and Peter. Happy birthday, [ceruleansmile/tato](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceruleansmile) :3

Tony Stark was not anxious. He was the very definition of a calm and collected person. Absolutely nothing could disturb him, especially not this.

"Sir, you have been pacing for ten minutes. Should I call Ms. Potts?" FRIDAY's voice disrupted his thoughts.

"No, FRIDAY, it's fine." Tony sighed, then hesitated and finally asked: "Can you pull up the last sightings of Spider-Man again?"

"Of course."

Images appeared in front of him, of Peter doing his usual work – catching thieves, saving cats, swinging around the city and generally being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man he always was. Someone who looked after the little guy.

"There have been no new sighting since you last checked eleven minutes ago. Spider-Man was last seen three days ago," FRIDAY informed Tony of what he already knew.

"Damn it!" He spun around and kicked an unfortunate waste basket next to him. It hit the opposite wall, then clattered back to the ground. Tony didn't care - he had bigger things to worry about. "Something's wrong. Something must have happened. He's never been inactive for this long. What if he's injured? What if... what if he's dead?"

He resumed pacing, shaking his head as he thought of the things that might have gone wrong - had he reinstalled the parachute? - and jumped when FRIDAY spoke once more.

"Neither his suit nor the news are aware of any such developments. May I suggest a call to check up on him?"

A call... what if he didn't pick up? "No... no, I have a better idea. Get the suit ready, I'll go to his house."

He had to see for himself if everything was alright. Not that he was worried, he was just... a bit worried. Just a bit.

 

 

May opened the door for Tony, which wasn't all that unusual. Her reaction to seeing him, on the other hand, with her eyes widening and a hand coming up to cover her mouth, was.

"Oh, Mr. Stark! I completely forgot to call you!"

"Call me about what?" She didn't seem devastated, Tony thought, so Peter was probably alright - was that what it meant? Or maybe she just didn't know...

"About Peter! That's why you're here, isn't it? Oh my God, I am so sorry. The internship. I called the school, I called a doctor, I... I called at work but I completely forgot to call you. I'm so sorry."

That was not helpful at all, but it seemed May had reached the part where she was actually going to tell him what was going on.

"Peter is sick. He... he can't go intern with you right now. Sorry, I completely forgot to tell you, I..."

Sick. Sick? Peter's healing was enhanced, wasn't it? What kind of illness would be able to keep him down?

"Does he need a doctor? I have one on call, a good one."

Immediately May held up her hands. "Oh, no, Mr. Stark, you really don't have to! He keeps saying it's just a normal cold." She hesitated. "I mean... I'm not sure if it's really just that, but... I probably just worry too much, right?"

Tony sighed. That sounded like Peter.

"Where is he? Can I see him for a minute?"

"Oh... oh, of course. I didn't think... of course." Shaking her head, May gestured at him to follow. "Come in. He's in his room. I'm _sure_ he'll be happy to see you."

Tony followed, trying very hard to look relaxed. This was a normal situation, completely normal, only a sick child, and now that he knew Peter was mostly alright, he wasn't even worried anymore. At all.

One day, he thought to himself, he would tell himself something that was actually true. But not today.

 

 

Peter, it seemed to Tony, was not as happy to see him as May had claimed. As soon as he entered the room, the teenager almost jumped up from the bed, then fell down again and coughed. Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, he stuttered: "Mr... Mr. Stark! What are you doing here?"

Right... what was he doing here? Tony wasn't completely sure about that himself, but it could have been the mad worry he had experienced for the last two days.

"Just happened to pass by and thought I'd check up on you, kiddo. You alright?"

The moment he said those words, he wished the sky would open up and spit out aliens again. What was he thinking? Peter was sick. He had been told, he could see it, so why was he even asking? He was a genius, and it didn't take one to see that Peter was not even close to alright.

"Sure, Mr. Stark. Just–" The boy coughed, which definitely didn't improve his rough voice. "Just feeling a bit under the weather. Sorry about the... uh. The internship."

"The... yes, right. The internship. Don't worry about that." Why was this so hard? Tony wished he could just tell Peter that what worried him was not his lack of spidering but the reason for it.

May seemed to pick up on the unspoken words floating in the air. "I'll be in the kitchen," she excused herself. "Mr. Stark, would you like a coffee?"

No, he didn't. He wouldn't be here for long – he had seen Peter now, after all. He was alive, he was uninjured, just sick. Nothing bad.

Tony found himself nodding anyway. "You know what, coffee sounds good. There's too much blood in my caffeine system right now."

The sound of Peter's muffled laughter was completely worth the strange look on May's face as she shook her head. "Alright then. You two do your super-secret internship talking." She turned to leave, but stopped at the last moment, smiling sweetly at Tony while the fires of hell burned in her eyes. "Oh, and no money or super suit in the world is going to save you if anything you say makes Peter miss out on the rest he needs to get healthy again."

Tony grinned his best careless grin, though it took far more effort than he had expected. May Parker, he decided, could never meet Pepper. The world would not survive it.

"Me? Never."

"Of course." The words were accompanied by a snort, but at least now May finally left, leaving Tony free to turn to Peter.

"So, kid – you're actually sick? No mutation side effect, no weird substances or abilities or anything involved?" He had to make sure. After all, Peter was his responsibility – at least his career as a hero was – and if anything happened to him... it would reflect badly on Tony. That was it. That was all. There was nothing else.

Peter sighed, ending with a cough. "Yeah, I had a... a bit of a cold, everyone at school has that right now, and then I was on patrol and it rained but there was this old lady who had just gotten groceries and I just..." Another sigh. "You know, I hadn't known I could still get sick after the whole... spider thing."

Neither had Tony, and he wished he had never found out. For scientific reasons, of course, because a possibly superpowered virus sounded bad.

And maybe because he cared about Peter. A bit. Or a lot.

He sighed. "Do you need anything?" he tried. "Medicine, a doctor... some chicken soup?" Cooking wasn't one of Tony's strengths, but it couldn't be too hard to find a restaurant he could convince to make some for him. Money tended to do that.

Peter grinned in response. "I think Aunt May's got that covered, thanks, Mr. Stark. And thanks for stopping by, but I'm fine." He coughed once more. "Mostly fine. But I'm already getting better. You..." His adam's apple moved as he swallowed, a slight but visible strain on his face. "You can go now, really. Before you get sick too."

"Not happening." Tony pulled out a chair to sit next to Peter and grinned at him. "Your aunt is making me coffee – I can't just leave." He leaned closer. "She's still hot."

"Mr. Stark!"

Peter's scandalized tone, Tony noted, was not impaired by his illness. That, at least, was good news.

 

 

An hour and a half as well as two cups of coffee later, Tony's phone, muted for convenience, started to speak with FRIDAY's voice.

"Sir, Ms Potts would like you to know that if you're not back at the tower in ten minutes for your next meeting, she is going to set your workshop on fire."

"What?!" Tony squeaked, then sighed. "Fine. Tell her I'll be there."

Time to leave, it seemed. Pushing himself to his feet, he turned towards Peter."Sorry, kiddo, gotta run. A mad Pepper is more dangerous than any alien invasion. You..." What was he supposed to say? "Get better soon, and feel free to swing by when you do. And maybe find out if your aunt has a free evening soon?"

"Mr. Stark!"

When Peter shouted like this, he sounded almost healthy. Until he coughed, of course.

"Just checking if you're still awake."

Peter sighed. "Still not sure I am," he muttered, probably not intending for Tony to hear it – but he did. Something twisted in his chest, and before he knew what he was doing, he had reached out and pulled Peter into a hug.

At first the boy was stiff, frozen, in his arms, but after less than a second he had wrapped his arms around Tony too and squeezed. Strongly. Spider powers.

For a moment Tony thought he could take it, but then...

"Okay, Petey, that's enough. Need to breathe..."

The death grip continued for a moment before the boy loosened it, though Tony could feel the reluctance in his movements.

"Much better. Don't do that again, and I don't mean..." Tony looked down, trying to indicate the hug. Manly embrace. "This. No more spidering out in the rain, you hear?"

Peter pulled back. "I'm not sure if I can promise that, Mr. Stark..."

The boy chewed on his lower lip. Of course he did.

Tony sighed. "I thought you might say that. Alright then, but I get to upgrade your suit." He frowned. "The heating function, and maybe I should make it waterproof..."

As he trailed off, his mind was already going through ideas, comparing concepts, materials, approaches... a new design, maybe?

Peter made an attempt, futile, really, to interrupt him. "You really don't have to do that, it's fine as it is. Really, Mr. Stark, thanks, but..."

Tony shook his head. "Nonsense. It's not fine, obviously. Now if I just..."

"Sir," FRIDAY spoke up again. "You have five more minutes."

"Damn!" Tony took a step backwards, trying not to hit the chair. "Bye, Peter! Don't get into more trouble than you can manage... erm, remember to eat your breakfast, pay attention to your teachers... actually, don't, they probably don't know what they're talking about..."

What was _he_ talking about?

"Anyway, toodles!" He ran out of the apartment, sprinted out of the building, jumped into the suit that had been waiting and took off immediately.

In the end he was only five minutes late, barely in time to save his workshop and already worrying about his son–... about Peter again.

 

A few days later he himself was in bed with what felt like the mother of all colds. But, he thought even as his head felt like it was going to explode, hopefully taking his burning throat with it, it had been worth it.


End file.
